TY - JOUR
T1 - Everybody hurts
T2 - Addiction, drama, and the family in the reality television show intervention
AU - Kosovski, Jason R.
AU - Smith, Douglas C.
N1 - Funding Information:
An earlier version of this manuscript was presented at the Self and Substance Conference held at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana on April 11, 2009. The development of this manuscript was supported by a National Institutes of Health (NIH) loan repayment contract (Smith). The opinions expressed here, however, are those of the authors and do not reflect official positions of the federal government. Address correspondence to Jason R. Kosovski, 217 Swanlund Administration Building, 601 E. John Street, Champaign, IL 61820; E-mail: [email protected].
Funding Information:
is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. His clinical and research experience is with vulnerable adolescents and young adults suffering from substance use disorders. His work has been supported by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the Department of Justice.
PY - 2011/5/6
Y1 - 2011/5/6
N2 - This article employs the literature on reality television as well as empirical studies on addiction to analyze Intervention's narrative. We look at the narrative structure of the Intervention's first six seasons (2005-2009), its repeated emphases on the causes of addiction, and the show's purported success rate. Highlighting disturbing discrepancies between the show's representations and assertions versus empirical research, Intervention's notions of what constitutes effective remedies are those treatments generally available only to the financially affluent, and the program's depictions of addiction and intervention practices reinforce a popular culture, rather than a science-based understanding, of the family and of addiction itself.
AB - This article employs the literature on reality television as well as empirical studies on addiction to analyze Intervention's narrative. We look at the narrative structure of the Intervention's first six seasons (2005-2009), its repeated emphases on the causes of addiction, and the show's purported success rate. Highlighting disturbing discrepancies between the show's representations and assertions versus empirical research, Intervention's notions of what constitutes effective remedies are those treatments generally available only to the financially affluent, and the program's depictions of addiction and intervention practices reinforce a popular culture, rather than a science-based understanding, of the family and of addiction itself.
KW - Johnson Institute Intervention
KW - drug addiction
KW - reality television
KW - stigma
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79957494992&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=79957494992&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3109/10826084.2011.570610
DO - 10.3109/10826084.2011.570610
M3 - Article
C2 - 21599500
AN - SCOPUS:79957494992
SN - 1082-6084
VL - 46
SP - 852
EP - 858
JO - Substance Use and Misuse
JF - Substance Use and Misuse
IS - 7
ER -